Iron Will
by Nightvale2406
Summary: The story of how the strength of ones heart changed the whole of creation. Eventual crossover with Kingdom Hearts
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters of _Naruto©_ and _Kingdom Hearts©_ , settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

A god once said, "A true _hero isn't measured_ by the size of _his_ _strength_ , but by the _strength of his_ _heart."_ This is the story of how the strength of the hearts of a few, changed all of creation.

Prologue

Deep within the wild forest of Fire Country, a short distance from the northern gate of the mighty _shinobi_ village, Konohagakure, a young shinobi in training's world was crumbling.

Naruto felt numb, as if a dull haze had settled over his senses. "What?" he finally managed to choke out, his tongue thick in his mouth. "You heard me," sneered his silver haired oppressor, the chūnin known as Mizuki. Naruto had spent the better part of three years with Mizuki, one of his instructors at the shinobi Academy, he had _trusted_ the man.

However, earlier that same day the yearly qualification exams had taken place, and once more Naruto had was his last chance to become a shinobi, and he failed. Then, like a ray of hope, Mizuki had approached him, but now all Naruto knew was the searing pain of betrayal.

"You are the beast that nearly destroyed Konoha," snarled Mizuki, his normally kind and smiling visage, twisted into a hate filled glare. It was the same glare that Naruto saw on the faces of most of the villagers; the same glare that had followed him all his life, and haunted his dreams. "You've killed dozens of shinobi and civilians," Mizuki continued. "N-no," protested Naruto weakly, "I didn't, I-I haven't."

"You LIE!," roared Mizuki spittle flying, eyes wild, "Fourteen years ago, when you attacked us, the Fourth Hokage managed to seal you into your current form, but I know the truth, all the adult villagers know the truth!" A manic gleam settled into his eyes then, "You are the Nine-tailed Fox, and tonight, I will have vengeance!"

A thousand thoughts and memories swirled through Naruto's head, he didn't want to believe it, but it made so much sense. The hateful glares of adults, no matter where he went, the whispers that followed his presence; parents pulling their children away as he walked past. He finally understood the reason for all the loneliness that had characterized his childhood. Who would want to be friends with the demon that nearly destroyed your home? He felt sick.

Before either of the two could move closer, a sudden plume of smoke billowed between them. "Run!" hissed a vaguely familiar voice into Naruto's ears. Mechanically, he obeyed, his mind a thousand miles away, simply responding to a vague familiarity, taking off even deeper into the forest, the large Scroll of Forbidden Seals bumping against his back as he ran.

"What is this?" shouted Mizuki from within the smoke, his enraged voice echoing in the nearly silent wood. Channeling his chakra into his fingers, he rapidly twirled the giant shuriken resting in his right hand like a fan, blowing the smoke away just in time to see a flash of orange dart out of sight.

* * *

Naruto ran as fast as he could, determined to get as far away as possible. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he tried to process everything that had been revealed. Was it true, he wondered, is Mizuki right? Branches scratched at him as he dashed away from his silver haired tormentor, the bright moon providing just enough light to see. His frantic race was suddenly brought to a halt as he saw _himself_ run past. "What?" he gasped, what in the world was going on now? The other Naruto briefly looked back and jerked his head towards a large tree, and so the real Naruto, unsure what else to do obeyed and moved towards the indicated tree.

A familiar voice rang out through the woods, "Naruto, wait!" "Naruto" stopped and a moment later, with a quiet _whoosh_ another chūnin materialized in a swirl of leaves. This chūnin was a man of average height and build with dark brown hair, pulled tight into a short ponytail. He had dark eyes and a prominent scar ran across the bridge of his nose, and like Mizuki, he was wearing the regulation Konoha shinobi outfit. "Naruto," the man repeated, "It's me, Iruka."

He glanced around, "You need to get out of here, now" Iruka said frantically, "Mizuki is coming. I wasn't able to distract him long enough." He stretched out his hand, "Give me the Forbidden Scroll and then get to the Hokage as quickly as you can." Naruto nodded and swept the large Scroll of his back. He moved to hand it off, but at the last second he ducked, and slammed his open palm into Iruka's solar plexus with impossible strength.

Iruka wheezed as the air was suddenly forced out of his lungs, and then seemed to _ripple_. A moment later Mizuki was revealed, standing where Iruka had been. "How," gasped the silver haired chūnin, "How did you know I wasn't Iruka? "Naruto" smirked, and then his imaged wavered away revealing another Iruka, "Because I am the real Iruka," he replied. His gaze hardened, "What have you done Mizuki?"

Mizuki scoffed, "Nothing important." "I see," answered Iruka quietly, "T&I and the Hokage would probably disagree with you." "They'll never know if you're dead," screeched Mizuki dropping all pretenses. In a puff of smoke his giant shuriken was back in his hands, and he raced forward. The two chūnin met with a screech of metal, a kunai in Iruka's hands appearing in an eye blink. The two shinobi clashed again and again, Iruka more skilled than Mizuki, but the sheer size of the shuriken providing an advantage in reach. Then the flow of the battle shifted abruptly when Mizuki flared his chakra. The shuriken spun like a buzz saw and knocked Iruka's kunai away, Mizuki seized the opening and drop kicked Iruka in the chest, sending the older man sailing into a tree. "Why are you trying to stop me Iruka?" Mizuki demanded. "That monster killed your parents; I know you hate him as much as I do."

Naruto, the real one, hidden behind the tree, suddenly felt as cold as ice. Iruka was the closest thing he had to a loved one, and he'd had no idea that the Nine Tails had killed his parents. "You're right," Iruka answered flatly, but audibly. In that moment, Naruto felt his heart start to break, and tears swelled again. He wanted to run away, but he felt paralyzed, unable to move away, and was forced to hear the rest of the conversation.

"I do hate the nine -tails for what it did," Iruka said as he pulled himself up. "But Naruto is not the Fox!" he shouted, making sure he was heard. "He is the beast's jailer, our protector, and one of my most precious people!" With those words hope blossomed in Naruto's heart. It felt like he was filled with light as he contemplated Iruka's words, "I'm one of his precious people," he wondered. This time the tears fell, but now they were ones of joy. He quickly wiped them away, filled with a newfound determination.

Mizuki scowled at Iruka's declaration, "Then it looks like I really do have to kill you," he growled. His shuriken began its high-speed rotation as he channeled his chakra. Then before he could prepare the next stage something blindsided him and sent him flying off his feet. "Don't you dare try to hurt Iruka-sensei!" roared Naruto. Mizuki sprang to his feet with a wordless snarl. "I'm going to crush you." Naruto declared boldly as he stared down his enemy. "You and what army, demon?" retorted Mizuki, "In that body you can't beat me!"

"Try this army," Naruto shot back, as he raised his hand in a cross shaped hand sign, "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU," he screamed, his voice echoing in the night as he poured as much chakra as he was able into the technique. In the blink of an eye more than a hundred identical clones of the blond youth materialized, each with a matching glare that promised pain. Mizuki blanched at the one man army, and whispered, "Shit." A wave of orange fell upon the chūnin a moment later.

* * *

A few minutes later Naruto, the real one, released the technique and his clones vanished in puffs of rapidly dispelling smoke. A wave of exhaustion hit him like a train, and he sank to his knees. Across the clearing lay Mizuki, still alive somehow, but fully unconscious, badly bruised, bleeding, sporting several broken bones. To give the chūnin credit, he'd destroyed over a dozen clones before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Iruka drew near a moment later, "Naruto" he said softly placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Are you ok?" Naruto wrapped his arms around Iruka's waist. "Did you mean it?" he asked shakily. "Do you really not hate me, even though I am the fox?"

Iruka's expression softened, "Naruto, you are not the Nine-tails," he said firmly, "You're an annoying, stubborn, ramen-obsessed pain in my neck, and my friend." Naruto let out a shuddering breath, "Thank you," he said quietly as he pulled himself to his feet. "We need to go to the Hokage," Iruka finally said, "Too much has happened tonight."

An unfamiliar voice rang out, "You are correct chūnin Umino." From the shadows materialized six shinobi, each sporting a bone-white porcelain mask that totally hid their visages. Naruto and Iruka tensed at their appearance, it was hard not to, the newcomers were the ANBU 3, everyone knew of the shinobi elite. "The Hokage wants to see you immediately," one of the ANBU said, though it was difficult to tell who had spoken exactly. Naruto and Iruka nodded in consent as three of the ANBU approached, "Be still," Naruto's escort said tonelessly as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, while one went to Iruka, and the third hauled up Mizuki in a fireman's carry. A moment later the woods were empty as the ANBU and their charges melted into the shadows.

* * *

A few minutes later

Naruto and Iruka stood before the door to the office of the single most powerful shinobi in the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage, and supreme military leader of the Konoha. Naruto sagged against the wall trying to get his head to stop spinning, he hated being a _shushin_ passenger, and it always made him feel sick. "Breathe deep," muttered Iruka quietly as he did the same, "It helps." When the world finally stopped spinning, Iruka squared his shoulders and knocked twice firmly. "Enter!" boomed the Hokage's voice almost immediately.

They trudged in a met the blank face of the aged Hokage, smoking a pipe as he stared at them from behind his desk. "Hey Old," Naruto began quietly before stopping, "Lord Hokage," he said quietly as he bowed and Iruka did the same. "You've caused a lot of trouble tonight," rumbled Hiruzen, his voice gravely from years of smoking. "I need every single detail of what you did and why, before I can decide what will happen next."

Naruto nodded once, "As you know today was the Academy's graduation test, but I failed again because I can't do that stupid Basic Clone jutsu." He swallowed the lump in his throat, "Since it was my third time failing, I was desperate, and I was afraid I might be kicked out permanently." After classes got out, Mizuki pulled me aside and told me that he and Iruka-sensei had antici, anticipet….had expected me to fail again."

The boy sighed before continuing, "He told me that they had set up a makeup test for me, all I had to do was grab a scroll from the tower, learn a technique from it, and then get to the end point by midnight tonight." Hiruzen took a drag on his pipe, "How did you know where to get the scroll?" he asked.

Naruto fished out a folded up square of paper. "Here," he answered handing it over, "It's a map of the tower, with the room's security code." Alarmed, Hiruzen picked up the paper, instantly knowing the major information leak it represented. "Did you know that it was the Scroll of Forbidden Seals when you took it?" he demanded. Naruto vehemently shook his head; "No!" he denied firmly, "I really thought it was all just a test." "I grabbed the scroll and high tailed it out of there as quickly as I could."

"What happened next?" questioned Hiruzen. "I got to the meeting point early, so I decided to work on the next part, and picked a technique to learn," the blond answered truthfully. "Which one?" sighed Hiruzen. "Shadow Clone jutsu," answered Naruto sheepishly, "It had the least hand signs. Hiruzen huffed, "All the techniques in that scroll are either dangerous or village secrets, Naruto," he said firmly. "Were you not the least bit suspicious?"

Naruto looked aside, somewhat ashamed, "I wasn't really thinking about that," he answered truthfully. Iruka fought the urge to face palm right then. "I was so afraid of failing that I only really cared about passing, and I honestly had no reason to suspect Mizuki of anything, he was one of the fairer teachers."

Hiuzen's mouth thinned, but he said nothing, motioning for Naruto to continue. "Anyway, after a lot of practice, I finally managed to get the technique down, and shortly after that, Mizuki arrived." He took a shuddering breath to calm himself before continuing, "Shortly after that, Mizuki told me what I am."

Hiruzen froze, "What?' he said after a moment spent collecting himself.

"Mizuki told me fourteen years ago I attacked the village, and that the Fourth Hokage sealed me into this human form." Naruto answered quietly. Iruka nearly choked, but before he could speak or protest, the Third held up his hand. "Mizuki, like many others in the village is mistaken," he said firmly. "You are not the nine-tails sealed in human form; you are what are known as a jinchūriki." Naruto blinked at the unfamiliar term, "Jin what?"

"A jinchūriki is a person who has one of the nine bijū sealed within them," the Hokage replied. "The bijū are immortal beings, masses of sentient chakra, they can't be killed, and so your soul acts as a prison to keep the creature locked away." "Oh," Naruto blinked, he suddenly looked like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, "So I really am not the fox, like at all?" "No," answered Hiruzen firmly, as well as Iruka.

Naruto hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "Why me?" he asked softly, "Why was I chosen?" A look of deep pain crossed Hiruzen's face, "I'm so sorry, but as an orphaned child you were the best choice." Naruto glanced up, confusion evident on his face, "The nine-tails is the strongest of the bijū," the Third explained, "The only vessel that could contain his power safely was the soul of a newborn child then. "Your status as a jinchūriki has been an S-class secret since that day," Hiruzen continued. "It was treason for Mizuki to reveal it to you like that." Naruto flinched, "Why?" "Were you ever going to tell me?" He couldn't keep the emotion from his voice.

Hiruzen simply nodded, "I planned on telling you myself when you became a genin, I wanted you to have as normal a life as possible. It is to my shame that I failed," and a moment Hiruzen looked aged well beyond his years. "I will never be able to make that up to you, I'm sorry."

It's ok Lord Hokage," Naruto whispered after a long moment of silence, "What's done is done." Now it was Hiruzen's turn to feel the guilt and tension life from his shoulders. He indulged a small smile briefly before schooling himself. "Now that you know the truth, you and I are the only people authorized to inform people of your status, and I will always try to ask for your permission." Naruto nodded, "Thank you, Lord Hokage," he answered. "Now what else happened tonight?" the Third asked.

* * *

After finishing his report Naruto remained quiet, still smiling as Iruka explained how someone called Kakashi had told him that Naruto had been involved in an unspecified incident with the tower, and had pointed him in the direction of the woods to the north. He also went over the confrontation with Mizuki, and highlighted how Naruto had successfully used the Shadow Clone technique to subdue the traitor.

After a long stretch of silence, puffing away on his pipe, Hiruzen finally spoke. "In many countries, your most of actions would have constituted treason," he said blandly. Naruto blanched, recognizing the seriousness of the situation. "However, I genuinely believe that you were deceived, and choose to believe that you simply were following the orders of a trusted superior officer, so just this once I will not hold you accountable."

A large smile bloomed on his face, and Naruto was about to shout his thanks, but Iruka firmly elbowed him. Hiruzen skillfully hid a smirk, and continued, "In addition, in recognition of your service to the village in apprehending a traitor, and due to a successful execution of a high level technique, I hereby grant you a field promotion to the rank of genin." This time Iruka couldn't stem Naruto's enthusiastic whoop of joy, "Thanks Old man!"

"Naruto!" hissed the chūnin, "Be respectful." Naruto at least had the decency to look chagrined, "Right," he said far more quietly, standing at attention. Hiruzen nodded in appreciation, "Now Naruto, you _must_ understand this," he stressed. "Something like this _cannot_ happen again."

He reached into a drawer in his desk and withdrew a shinobi headband, embossed with the stylized leaf symbol of Konoha. "Take this, and wear it with pride," instructed the Hokage, in his most formal tone, "May to will of fire burn bright in you." Naruto saluted, "Yes sir," he declared enthusiastically, and once more he felt filled with light. "Dismissed."

As Naruto and Iruka walked away, a hard look entered Hiruzen's eyes, he had a traitor to interrogate personally, and then execute.

* * *

Even Later that Night

Naruto stared at the ceiling of his single bedroom apartment, his eyes seeing nothing. His mind however, was racing. The knowledge he had gained tonight changed everything. Who was he? For so long all he had ever wanted was the acknowledgement, approval, or even, in his loneliest moments, just the attention of the villagers, but now? Could he ever get that acknowledgement he wondered?

Even though he objectively knew he wasn't the fox, he wasn't sure some people would ever be able to see him as a person. These questions and several like it were still on his mind as he finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Elsewhere

His eyes opened when he felt a warm current of air pass over his skin, there was nothing around him, just a black void broken only by a point of bright light that he instinctively knew he was approaching. He could tell he was falling, but it felt odd, like he was drifting through water, like a stone settling to the bottom of a pool. The strangest part was that this empty place felt _familiar_ , and he felt no fear.

As he drifted closer to the point of light, his eyes slowly adjusted, to the dim light and he saw that it was emanating from a large platform of some kind, a single empty oasis in the abyss. It wasn't long before he could see the details on the surface of the platform, and it almost took his breath away. A huge stained-glass mural covered the surface, a portrait of a young man resting against a tree. It's beauty was beyond words.

Then, with a start, Naruto realized that the young man in the picture was himself. He drifted closer and closer to the platform in the silent abyss before finally landing softly.

He looked around, but as far as he could tell, nothing else existed in this place aside from the platform. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud, and his voice sounded too loud in this silent place, but it did not echo.

"Ah," came an unexpected reply from behind, and Naruto nearly jumped out of his own skin. "So you finally have come to see me." Naruto whirled around, and promptly reeled back in surprise. He was looking at _himself_. He blinked then looked more carefully, something was off.

It took him a second, before he finally pinned it down, this Other Naruto had eyes that glowed yellow, and something just felt wrong about him, he felt dangerous. "Who are you?" the original warily demanded, disconcerted by his doppelganger.

The yellow-eyed Naruto chuckled, "I'm you," he responded, "Or at least part of you." Original Naruto's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously. "

You hate them," answered the yellow-eyed one dodging the question, "Don't you?" and Original Naruto flinched, on some deep instinctual level he knew exactly what his copy was referring to. "You hate the villagers, and their whispers, the stares, the way they treated you, the boy that is literally their savior." "That's not true!" protested the original Naruto.

"It's ok," said the other Naruto soothingly, "That hatred is why I exist after all," and drew closer to the original. "All your anger, your hurt and pain, the sorrow and loneliness," he tapped his other's chest right on the heart. "It's all in here," he said quietly, "It's all in me." "I am your Darkness."

Original Naruto stood his ground, despite his discomfort. The being in front of him, his dark reflection, he knew, he just _knew_ , wasn't lying, and it was almost terrifying, "What do you want?" he asked warily, "Why am I here?"

Suddenly the Dark-Naruto grabbed the original's jacket, "Use me!" he or it hissed, the yellow glow of his eyes brightening. "Surrender yourself to my power, and I will make you stronger than you can imagine!"

Naruto frowned, "Get real," he growled and stepped back firmly, breaking free. "You could show them all," retorted Dark-Naruto, who thankfully didn't draw closer "Make them see your power, your strength and acknowledge you and you alone, not that damn Fox!"

For a moment Naruto stared at his dark copy and wondered. Was that really what he wanted, deep down? In his heart of hearts, he acknowledged that the hatred and resentment of the villagers did exist, and the offer of power was temping, oh so tempting, but something held him back. For a long time, he stood there, staring at the dark reflection of himself and thought about his life.

After an indeterminate amount of time passed, he reached his answer. With Iruka's words of friendship and love echoed in his mind, and he decided he wouldn't give into his own hatred. "No," he said finally aloud. "I will not give into you."

Dark-Naruto scowled and hissed in fury, and in the blink of an eye, a solid tendril of shadow shot out of his hand, wrapping around the orginal Naruto, "Give in to me!" he roared in fury." His eyes burning like miniature suns.

"Never," bellowed back the original. "I don't care if some of the villagers hate me, if some of them will always choose to see me as the Fox, I will protect them anyway, I choose to have hope!"

* * *

A blazing pillar of white light erupted from the stained glass mural, fully enshrouding the Original Naruto disintegrating the dark copy's shadowy tendril instantly. A few seconds later, the pillar of light began to fade, and a portion of that intense began to coalesce around the Original's right hand. A moment later something heavy dropped into his palm, and he reflexively gripped it. Whatever it was, it felt comfortable in his hand, like it was made for his specific grip. When the pillar of light fully dimmed back to what it once was, Naruto found himself transfixed by the weapon in his hands.

Whatever the hell it was, it looked like a giant key. In his hand he held a leather wrapped handle that was surrounded by a green guard. The "blade" was essentially a solid slab of metal, with a smaller square shaped wedge jutting out perpendicular to the center slab. The square section had portions cut out, like "teeth" giving it the appearance of an old fashioned type of door key. "What is this?" Original Naruto breathed in wonder.

"So," sneered the Dark-Naruto, "You've manifested a keyblade, have you? "A keyblade?" murmured the original Naruto, somewhat distracted. "Guess this means you've chosen the Light," Dark-Naruto, growled, and there was an odd emphasis on the word light.

"Then I'll show you the power of Darkness!"

Naruto looked up sensing the danger, and saw his double manifest a near identical weapon of his own, but while the original's was made of real solid metal, Dark-Naruto's seemed to be made of pure shadow.

"Don't be afraid," an unknown, but soothing male's voice whispered in Naruto's ear, "It will be ok." Dark-Naruto rushed forward, swinging his shadow weapon with a grunt of exertion. Naruto reflexively brought his own blade to bear, and parried the blow. It was bizarre, he could tell that his own keyblade was fully solid, and should have been quite heavy, but it felt light enough to swing one handed. He shoved his arm forward and pushed his dark counterpart away.

Dark Naruto recovered swiftly and attacked with an overhead blow, which Naruto was forced to block with two hands. Over and over the two clashed, the screech of metal harshly ringing out in the abyss. He could not tell for how long the fought, but eventually their blades locked together once more, and they stood face to face.

"This is going nowhere," Dark-Naruto grunted, "You've made your choice.

The two sprange apart, when suddenly the Voice from before whispered, in Naruto's ears "Your Darkness can't consume you, if you do not want it to," Naruto nearly gasped alound as the answer finally came to him, he knew what to do.

Dark- Naruto came rushing in with a shout, but Original Naruto didn't react, even when the shadowy blade actually pierced his chest, in fact he felt no pain. Stunned his Dark counterpart froze, when suddenly Naruto moved forward, the shadow weapon unfazed, until he reached out and embraced his copy in a hug.

"It's ok," he whispered into Dark-Naruto's ears, "I forgive them." Dark Naruto stumbled back, and tears sprang into those burning yellow eyes, "Why?" he whispered, and "They don't deserve it, they still hate you, and you still need me."

"I know,"Original Naruto answered simply, "But it's still my choice, I forgive them." Dark Naruto started intently at his Other, searching for something for a long moment, before the shadow weapon faded from existence. "Thank you for everything," Naruto whispered, "It's going to be all right." The dark reflection nodded, before quietly, without fanafare, fading away.

"Well done young wielder," the unknown Voice boomed in the void, no longer whispering. "You have proven yourself worthy of the Light."

"Who are you?" called Naruto looking around seeing no one, "Where are you?" "My name is **Iron Will** ," the voice answered." "When the time is right, call my name and I will appear!" Before Naruto could ask any more questions the mural began glowing, brighter and brighter, until it was blinding, and suddenly he knew no more.

* * *

 _If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment, favorite it if you really loved it, or if you hated it for some reason, send me some constructive criticism. This is the first story I've worked on for a while. For the time being I will try to have weekly updates._

 _See you next time_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, dialogue, etc. of Naruto© and Kingdom Hearts©, are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot of this work are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Naruto awoke suddenly, jerked into wakefulness as his alarm clock blared loudly his empty apartment. His hand slammed down on the off switch as he sat up, groggily noting that his head felt strangely fuzzy. What had just happened he wondered sleepily, a bit dazed, but the fragmented memories of his dream were already escaping him.

Shaking his head to clear the last remnants of sleep away he stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. The slowly warming water helped shock him awake and he shuddered as he recalled the events of the previous night, the fight with the traitorous Mizuki and his subsequent field promotion.

After being lost in thought for a time he finally shook his head. What happened had happened, and it was time to move forward. Now that he knew the truth of what he was, he was more determined than ever to show the village that he wasn't a monster.

After his shower he glanced at the clock noting that he had about 40 minutes to get to the academy, and a small smile made its way to his lips at the thought. His class was going to be really surprised to see him; after all as far as they knew, he'd publicly failed the academy jutsu test. He went over to the dresser where he kept his clothes and for the first time in ages, moved his beloved orange jumpsuit aside.

The previous night had shown him, with painful clarity, that the shinobi world wasn't all fun and games. The Third Hokage's warning about his behavior and admonition to be careful and serious echoed in his mind, it was time to take his profession as a ninja, and his dream a bit more seriously. Underneath his four pairs of hideously bright jumpsuits he had a collection of clothes the 3rd Hokage had given him for his birthday and various festivals over the years, that he had almost never worn. Privately, he admitted to himself that it because none of the clothes had had a hint of orange, which was still the greatest color in the universe in his humble opinion, so he'd kept wearing the garish jumpsuits instead.

Today however, he slipped on a pair of thick, tear resistant black cargo-style pants with half a dozen pockets of various sizes, and a white long-sleeved shirt embossed on the back with the red swirl commonly found on Konoha shinobi clothing. He also slipped on a black sleeveless vest, virtually identical to the standard chūnin wear, placing his kunai and shuriken in various pockets.

Idly he glanced at himself in the mirror, noting that while the he did look pretty different in black and white; his outfit didn't look half bad. The last thing he put on as he walked out the door was his new headband, the steel plate shiny and new. Smiling he took off towards the academy, ready to take on the world.

* * *

For once in his life, Naruto slipped into the Academy quietly, actively trying to not draw attention to himself. He didn't feel like answering questions right now. He spotted an empty seat next to a dozing student with their head down on their desk, and he grinned recognizing the other student immediately by their black hair tied in a large spiky ponytail as Nara Shikamaru, the laziest Nara clan shinobi he'd ever met. And that was saying something. Shikamaru's laziness was practically a feat unto itself, as most Nara shinobi were pretty laid back and prone to doing the minimum required of them in any situation, Shikamaru went even further beyond that.

As he dropped into the empty seat, his movements disturbed Shikamaru just enough to somewhat rouse him.  
"Naruto?" he whispered blearily his brown eyes half opening, "What are you doing here, didn't you fail?" Naruto smiled and pointed at his headband, "Field promotion from the Hokage," he murmured softly, "I'm an official genin, just like you." Shikamaru nodded vaguely, uncaring, "That's nice," and promptly went back to sleep. Naruto fought back the urge to laugh aloud at his almost friend's antics, Shikamaru was an interesting one alright, but he was used to the guys' lazy attitude.

As students quickly filed in more than a few noticed his presence, but whenever they would open their mouths to ask, Naruto would simply point to his headband and shake his head, which was answer enough for most everyone.

About five minutes before class officially began, a young man with dark black hair and equally dark eyes strode in. He was wearing a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar, white shorts and white arm warmer. Sasuke Uchiha, the last living member of the once great Uchiha clan. A straight up prick, in Naruto's opinion, but he chose not to voice the though aloud, for now.

Sasuke as typical had a semi-permanent frown on his face, but thankfully didn't even look around the classroom, and consequently took no notice of Naruto, who as far as he knew, had failed to graduate yesterday. As the Uchiha boy took his seat and turned his nose up, Naruto breathed a quiet sigh of relief, he really hated the air of superiority Sasuke put out, and the way he always looked for ways to put down others, but he didn't want any trouble today. Unfortunately, his wish was not to be granted.

A minute or two after Sasuke's arrival, the quiet of the classroom shattered as a small horde of girls, the Unofficial-Official Sasuke Fan Club, as the rest of the class called them, stormed in. Naruto watched impassively as Haruno Sakura, his classmate with girl with bubblegum pink hair and green eyes, rather ruthlessly muscled her way to the "coveted" empty spot next to Sasuke, with a ear piercing "CHAAAAA !" of triumph, and promptly began whispering and eyeing Sasuke. Much to her consternation however, the broody Uchiha pointedly ignored her presence, while the remaining girls dispersed into empty seats.

"Naruto?!" suddenly questioned a female voice loudly, drawing closer. Naruto tore his eyes away from Sakura and Sasuke, noting Ino Yamanaka, heiress of the Yamanaka shinobi clan, who had spoken. With her fair skin and pale-blonde hair, a rarity in the village where most had brown or black hair, she was quite striking, and easily recognizable. Thankfully, Ino was one of the few girls in the class who was not overtly obsessed with Sasuke like the Fan Club was, but Naruto had seen her eyeing the Uchiha a few times.

He also noticed that she was wearing a new purple outfit, with a high-collared blouse and some kind of matching apron, with bandages on her abdomen and legs covering exposed skin, and that her shinobi headband was being worn as a belt around her waist.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" she all but demanded, and Naruto bit back a groan as up in front, Sasuke quickly spun around to look at him,

"Don't you know today is only supposed to be for those who passed idiot?" the Uchiha drawled with a smirk. Naruto jerked a thumb to his headband irritated, "I got a field promotion last night," he shot back, "I'm here as an official genin, same as you."

Sasuke scowled deeply, "How did an idiot like you get a field promotion, you can't even do the basic clone jutsu," he demanded. Naruto smirked, "Sorry, bastard, but that's classified, you'll have to ask the Hokage about it." Sasuke grit his teeth in irritation but turned away without further question.

Ino flushed lightly as she watched the heated exchanged, and quickly took the last empty seat next to Naruto, "Sorry," she mumbled, "I didn't mean to...," but he waved her off, "It's fine, it was bound to happen," he admitted. "Bastard probably hates the idea that I got some kind of special privilege and he didn't." Ino nodded absently, but then jerked suddenly and spun in her seat to look at him again, "You're not wearing any orange," she gasped, with a hint of more-than-a-little surprise.

"Yeah, I decided it was time for a change," Naruto responded lightly with a smile, "I mean we're real ninja now right? We can't exactly go around wearing super-bright orange for stealth missions, even if it is the best color." She nodded and looked him up and down for a second, "Well you look good Uzumaki," she drawled, stretching out the vowels of his last name, "Really good," and smiled wickedly.

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush heavily, and Ino giggled quietly as he did so, while Shikamaru somehow muttered "How troublesome," in his sleep.

* * *

As he did every day Iruka walked in at exactly 9 am sharp and Naruto beamed at him silently. "All right class," he said striding down to the front of the room, "Settle down!' and the class fell silent at his command. "You are all here today because you passed the Academy's Final Exam yesterday."

"Today, I will assign you to a three man cell under your jōnin sensei," Iruka continued, "You will work with this team until you are promoted to the rank of chūnin." He paused while he pulled out a sheet of paper from a pocket, and continued "Now, Team One will be…"

Naruto half tuned out as Iruka read off various names and numbers, wondering what his jōnin sensei and team would be like, but he was pulled out of his reverie when he heard finally his own name, "Uzumaki Naruto, you are assigned to Team Seven, along with Ino Yamanaka and Uchiha Sasuke, under the command of jōnin Hatake Kakashi." Iruka paused for a second, "Best of luck," he said, before hastily continuing, "Lastly, Haruno Sakura, you are assigned to Team 8 along with Aburame Shino and Hyūga Hinata, under the command of jōnin Yūhi Kurenai."

Naruto once more fought the urge to groan, he had to be on a team with Sasuke? This was going to suck, he just knew it. Ino on the other hand was ecstatic; she was going to be on the team with the two cutest boys in school, and if anyone had looked closely they could see the predatory gleam in her eyes.

Iruka cleared his throat again before looking at all of them intently, "From here on you are all shinobi, you represent the power and the future of this village." "I wish you all the best of luck," and he walked out of the room without another word.

* * *

An hour and a half after Iruka left, Naruto, Ino and Sasuke were the only ones left in their old classroom, and frustration was beginning to boil over. "Urgh!," Naruto all but shouted, another five minutes of silence, "Where is he!?"

Ino shrugged, "I don't know," she answered, "Maybe he got caught up in something?" Naruto scowled not at her, but at the situation, "He's still late," he grumbled, before an idea cam to him "I'll show him," he growled as he ran to the chalkboard, grabbed a dusty eraser, and carefully wedged it into a small gap at the top of the sliding door.

"You moron," drawled Sasuke as he observed the other boy, "He's going to be a jōnin, do you really think he'd fall for something so obvious?" "So what?" retorted Naruto as he returned to his seat, "You'll never know if you don't try." Thankfully they didn't have to wait long for their answer before they heard the door begin to open.

All three genin, although Sasuke would never admit it, watched in anticipation as the eraser dropped onto someone's head in small _**poof**_ of dust. "Got him," Naruto chuckled, "Told you." The incomer, a man, shook his head to dislodge the eraser and ran his hand through his spiky grey hair, "Very funny," he said blandly, without the slightest trace of discernable emotion.

The newly minted genin took a moment to look over their likely candidate for jōnin sensei curiously as the older ninja walked in further. The man wore the standard Konoha jōninuniform, a green flak jacket, dark blue pants, and a long-sleeve shirt, and sported a pair of customized finger-less gloves with metal plates on the back. Strangely enough he wore his shinobi headband slanted down across his face completely obscuring his left eye, and a black facial mask pulled up to the bridge of his nose hid the majority of his face. In fact the only part of his face not covered totally covered was part of his forehead, and his right eye, which stared right back at them, impassively.

"Meet me on the roof in three minutes," he said abruptly, breaking the silence, and then vanished in a puff of rapidly dissipating smoke. Naruto blinked, "I've got to learn how to do that," he mused aloud as he rushed out of his seat. Both Ino and Sasuke privately agreed.

* * *

Two minutes later Team Seven burst out of the door to the roof, and quickly perched themselves on various structures on the roof staring at their sensei expectantly, although he didn't say anything, the jōnin did nod at them, possibly approvingly.

Once everyone was situated, he spoke "So, why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" "Sensei, what exactly do you want to know?" asked Ino. He shrugged, "Names, goals, likes and dislikes that kind of thing." Ino nodded, "Well, why don't you go first?" she suggested sweetly, and he scratched his chin idly for a moment before responding.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi," he began, tonelessly, his voice still lacking any kind of emotion, " I've been a jōnin for about 16 years now, I like I don't know reading I guess, I dislike a lot of things, and I don't really have any dreams, but I do have few hobbies."

The genin frowned, "We still know next to nothing about you," Ino pointed, finally feeling a little out annoyed, "And what do you mean 16 years? How old are you?" Kakashi just shrugged, but refused to answer. She huffed, "Fine, my name is Ino Yamanaka, I like flowers and my family, I dislike people who end friendships for stupid reasons, and my dream is to be the best leader I can be for my clan."

Kakashi nodded, "Your clan specializes in mental jutsu right?" he asked. Ino nodded, "Have you learned any of those techniques, and how proficient are you?" She sighed, "I know the **Mind-Body Switch** and the basics of the **Individual Telepathy** technique but I'm not as good as I could be," she admitted, "My chakra reserves aren't very large so I can't sustain them for long." Kakashi nodded again, "It's good that you can recognized your weak point," he replied, and the students could finally discern a note of approval in his voice.

Kakashi then pointed to Sasuke, "You, broody one, what about you?" Sasuke scowled at the nickname before answering, "I am Sasuke Uchiha," he said proudly, "I like training and learning ninjutsu, I dislike many things especially weakness, and my dream no my ambition is to kill the man who took my family away and to one day rebuild the Uchiha clan."

Although none of the genin noticed, Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "Your clan was best known for two things, the Sharingan bloodline trait and proficiency in fire techniques," Kakashi stated matter of factly, "Have you unlocked it or learned any of your clan jutsu?"

Sasuke grit his teeth in irritation, "No, I have not unlocked the Sharingan yet," he answered tersely, "But I have mastered the **Grand Fireball** and the **Phoenix Flower** techniques." Naruto leaned closer to Ino, "What exactly is the sharingan?" he half-whispered, before she could answer, Kakashi turned and locked eye with him.

"The sharingan is the special dōjutsu or visual technique of the Uchiha clan," he droned, as if repeating from a textbook "It grants the user incredible clarity of perception, enabling them to visibly see chakra, as well as fast-moving objects and, once fully developed, offers some amount of predictive capabilities, it also allows the user to copy almost any technique they see, memorizing ninjutsu, genjutsu, and the movements of taijutsu with near-perfect accuracy."

Naruto and Ino's eyes widened, "What the fuck," muttered Naruto, "That sounds overpowered as hell." "Hmph," answered Sasuke, but there was a smug grin on his face, which was then replaced by a suspicious frown, "How exactly do you know so much about our bloodline, some of your info isn't common knowledge?"

Kakashi looked at him flatly for a few seconds, "I'm a jōnin," he said finally, "It's my job to know this kind of stuff." Then he finally pointed to Naruto, "Now you, blondie number 2 go. Naruto scoffed at the nickname, but obeyed,

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," he began. "I like training, pulling pranks, and I love ramen and orange things." He paused for a second, "What I dislike most is when people are close-minded or judge people for things out of their control, especially when they don't even try getting to know them," he squared his shoulders, "My dream is to become Hokage so that one day I can protect everyone I care about."

"That's a big dream," Kakashi noted idly, "Do you really think you can get there?" Naruto nodded firmly, "I'll get there one day." Kakashi actually almost smiled "You do not come from one of the major Konoha clans," he said, "What are some of your skills if any outside of the basic academy techniques?"

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I'm actually really good at setting traps, and my **Transformation Jutsu** is one of my best skills." He frowned, "I suck at the basic **Clone jutsu** , no matter what I can't get it down at all, but recently I learned a way better jutsu so it doesn't really matter I guess."

'What do you mean a better jutsu?" asked Ino curiously. Naruto glanced at Kakashi, who nodded in approval, and Naruto grinned before walking a short distance away, "Watch this," he said confidently as he raised his hands into a cross hand seal. " **Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** he yelled firmly and flared his chakra hard. A cloud of white smoke burst into existence around him, obsucing him from view for a few seconds, before the cloud dissipated to reveal ten identical copies of the boy.

Ino frowned, as she looked at the duplicated boy "But how is that better?" she queried. The Narutos all smiled and one hopped over to her, "We are solid Ino," he said as he poked her in the arm, "We can actually fight," Naruto then dismissed his technique and his clones all vanished with a small pop and puff of smoke.

While Ino and Sasuke were surprised to learn about the existence of a solid clone technique, Kakashi was surprised that a fresh genin, even a jinchuuriki was able to create ten shadow clones without breaking a sweat. "Naruto," the jōnin asked after a moment "Exactly how many clones can you make?" Naruto shrugged, "I don't really know," he answered honestly, "I mean so far the most I made was about a two hundred, but I'm pretty sure I can make more than that."

Unbeknownst to the genin Kakashi sweat dropped, that many shadow clones was literally insane. "Can you teach me that?" asked Ino suddenly, "It looks really useful." Before Naruto could speak Kakashi cut him off, "No," the jōnin said, "He can't."

"What, why?" asked both blondes in unison. "The **Shadow Clone Jutsu** is actually an A-ranked technique," Kakashi explained, "The chakra requirement is actually really high, if you tried it like you are right now Ino you'd burn out your entire chakra pool." "Oh," said Ino a little pale, "uh, never mind then."

Sasuke scowled at the revelation, "How the hell did that idiot manage to learn something like that?" he seethed internally. "I'll need that kind of power to kill Itachi, I know it!"

"Well then," announced Kakashi suddenly, life blooming within his voice, "I think we are going to have a lot of **_fun_** together."

Naruto nearly twitched, he really didn't like the way Kakashi had said fun. "Provided of course you pass tomorrow's test as well."

"What?!" burst out Naruto indignantly, "Another test? Come on!"

"Yes," responded Kakashi unfazed, "Every jōnin instructor will be testing their teams tomorrow to make sure that they really are fit to be genin."

"So what do we have to do?" asked Ino quietly, her mouth dry with apprehension. Even though they couldn't see his mouth the genin swore that Kakashi was smirking at them, mainly from the way his exposed eye crinkled a little. "It's a _secret_ ," he said lightly. "But keep in mind that this second test has a 66% failure rate."

All three genin hopefuls swallowed in unison. "Be at training ground 7 tomorrow morning at 9 Am sharp," ordered Kakashi, "Oh and don't eat anything if you don't want to throw it up in the morning." He waved at them lazily and drawled, "Later!" then vanished in a puff of smoke.

A few moments after their sensei left Naruto exhaled, "Man, I wasn't expecting that," he said, both Ino and Sasuke made vague sounds of agreement. His stomach growled a second later and he grinned, a little embarrassed, "Uh, do you guys want to get something to eat?"

Sasuke shook his head as we started walking away, "No." Naruto turned to Ino, "How about you Ino?" She shrugged, "Why not," she said, "Beats eating alone." Naruto laughed, "Right." "Come on, I'll take you to Ichiraku Ramen, it's my favorite place."

* * *

After a nice meal at the ramen stand Naruto had taken her too, introducing her to quote his favorite chefs and the best food in the universe, unquote, Ino finally arrived home. Her mother and a few extended cousins were tending to the flower shop as was typical, but her father was home early. "Hey sweetie," he greeted as she walked in, "How was graduation?"

She frowned and crossed her arms as she sat down at the table, "I just found out about the second test Dad," she replied huffy. "You didn't think to mention that to me?" Inoichi Yamanaka chuckled, "Sorry hun, but we aren't supposed to mention it." Ino scowled but chose to accept the answer, "So who have you been assigned to?"

Ino's scowl morphed into a half smile, "I got placed in a team with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke," she said happily, "They're both so good looking." Inoichi scowled this time, "Ino," he said warningly, "Don't be all boy crazy."

She waved her dad off, "Its fine," she said, "I won't be." "Good," her father answered as he picked up a cup of coffee, "So who is your jōnin sensei?" Ino sighed, "It's this kind of weird guy," she said, "His name is Hatake Kakashi and I just can't get a read on him at all you know?"

Inoichi nearly choked on his coffee, "Hatake Kakashi is your sensei?" he asked in disbelief, "Seriously?" Ino looked at her dad in surprise, "Uh yeah," she said slowly, "Why is that so strange?" Inoichi snorted, "Because the last time Kakashi was selected as a potential jōnin sensei was about six years ago, and he's failed every potential team that he was selected for."

Ino groaned, "Are you for real?" she whined, "How the heck are we supposed to pass this test?" Inoichi shrugged, "I'm sorry sweetie," he said, trying to be soothing, "The next graduation period is only six months away."

Ino scowled, "This is freaking crazy," she growled to her father, "What do you know about Kakashi-sensei anyway?" He shrugged, "Not much," and sipped his coffee slowly, "Kakashi tends to keep to himself, but I do know two things for sure." He held up a finger, "One, that guy is almost always late, to everything." Ino fought the urge to slam her head into the table, "What?" she demanded, exasperated.

"Unless the Hokage directly says something is time sensitive he'll be anywhere from an hour to three late," her dad explained, and held up another finger, "Two, he's unquestionably one of the best shinobi in the whole village," he said. Ino cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean?" "Among all jōnin Kakashi currently holds the record for most completed missions of all Ranks above D as well as fewest failed missions," her father explained.

"I know that he spent more than six years as an ANBU and he knows like a thousand different jutsu as well, its nuts." Inoichi rubbed his chin, "Now that I think about it, when Shikaku finally retires Kakashi will probably be the next Jōnin Commander."

"Great," replied Ino, her voice strained, "That's just great." She abruptly stood from the table, "I'm going to go train, maybe I can think of something."

Inoichi gave her a wry grin, "Don't push yourself too hard before tomorrow," he warned, but Ino just brushed him off as she walked outisde.

* * *

The next morning

Naruto awoke early the next day, his body essentially on autopilot, as he went through his normal morning routine. He even ate breakfast, completely forgetting Kakashi's admonition to not eat anything, before heading out the door towards training ground seven. Most of the training grounds were located on the east side of the village, opposite of the imposing mountain that was carved with enormous busts of the village's four Hokage.

The various training grounds the shinobi used formed a crescent shaped perimeter of the village, and each was a different size, and featured different landscapes for training. Training ground seven was made to look like a forest with a large glen in the center with a pond to the north. At 10 minutes to 9am Naruto strolled into the center clearing, spotting Sasuke leaning against a tree.

"Morning," Naruto greeted, but Sasuke didn't reply, "Guess we beat Kakashi-sensei here," Naruto mused, "Hn," replied Sasuke, "You don't talk much in the morning do you?" "Not really," was the reply. Naruto shrugged at his answer, but sat down, "Whatever."

At 9 am on the dot, Ino arrived, with a frown on her face, "Hey guys," she said listlessly, and both boys noticed that she looked and sounded tired already, "My dad says we're probably gonna be here for a while, apparently Kakashi-sensei is frequently late."

Naruto groaned, "Great, just our luck," he groused, "We got stuck with the lazy sensei." Ino shook her head, "I'm not too sure about that," she said, "Dad says that Kakashi is one of the best."

"Che," said Sasuke, barely loud enough to hear, "I'll believe it when I see it." Ino shrugged, "Well I'm gonna take a nap," she said, "Wake me up in a little bit if he's still not here."

* * *

About 45 minutes later

"Damn it," Naruto finally all but exploded, "Where the hell is he?" Ino jerked away, "I'm awake!" she half-yelled frantically as she looked around for their sensei wildly. "Ah Sorry," Naruto apologized, flushing red slightly, " Didn't mean to wake you, and he's still not here yet anyway."

"Its fine," she said with a yawn, as she rubbed her eyes, and Naruto fought off a blush, damn it she looked cute as hell waking up. "I should be up anyway."

Naruto hopped to his feet, "Well I'm getting bored," he announced, and turned towards Sasuke "Yo ass-hat, do you want to spar?" Sasuke snorted, "It's been one day since the academy idiot, I seriously doubt you've improved that much, I'd still crush you."

Naruto grit his teeth, "Fine," he hissed, "Screw you anyway," and walked back to Ino, "How about you Ino, do you want to spar?"

"Sure," she said, to his surprise, "It'll help get my blood pumping right?" Naruto grinned, "That's the spirit."

Around twenty minutes later Naruto and Ino's taijutsu only match was interrupted when Kakashi fianlly appeared in a swirl of leaves. "YOU'RE LATE!." Naruto bellowed, at the top of his lungs, pointing an accusatory finger at Kakashi.

"Sorry," said Kakashi,idly picking at his right ear, "I was helping my neighbor find her runaway cat, and we lost track of time," he explained tonelessly.

All three genin scowled at the blatant lie.

"Now then," he continued, ignoring their ire, "It's time for your test." He pulled out a portable alarm clock and set in down on a tree stump, the timer set for two hours. Then he reached into another pocket and withdrew two small silver bells, which he affixed to his belt loops.

"Your test is simple," he explained, "All you have to do to pass is get one of these bells from me within the next two hours." Ino frowned, "But sensei," she said, "You've only got two bells."

"Correct," said Kakashi, "One of you is guaranteed to fail, that's partly why the failure rate is so high." "Damn it," cursed Naruto under his breath, the test was way harder than he thought it would be.

Kakashi turned the timer on, "One piece of advice," he said casually, "If you want one of these bells, you have to come at me willing to kill me, you can't afford to try and hold back against me." The genin shivered at his cold tone, realizing immediately that he was serious.

"Begin!." Kakashi barked, and immediately he was enshrouded in a wave of smoke.

* * *

 _If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment, favorite it if you really loved it, or if you hated it for some reason, send me some constructive criticism. This is the first story I've worked on for a while._

See you next time


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, dialogue, etc. of Naruto© and Kingdom Hearts©, are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot of this work are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended._

While Kakashi-sensei was explaining their test and winding up the alarm clock, Naruto seized the initiative and surreptitiously palmed four of his special, home-made fast acting smoke bombs.

The instant the command to begin was given, he hurled them at everyone's feet, thinking furiously, trying to think of something he could do against a seasoned jōnin. His mind raced over his meager skills, when suddenly he was hit by a bolt of inspiration.

Bringing his hands into the new cross shaped hand-seal he was becoming more and more familiar with, he whispered as quickly and quietly as possible, **"Shadow Clone Jutsu,''** and flared his chakra, creating five duplicates of himself in a wave of smoke, further obscuring him and his teammates and Kakashi.

The clones were left to spread out and engage, while took off into the woods around their clearing. Meanwhile unbeknownst to him, Ino and Sasuke had also taken advantage of the smoky chaos, and had ran for cover as well.

Ino took refuge in one of the nearby trees, eyeing Kakashi-sensei, who was leaning on a tree, looking completely bored, as he faced five identical copies of Naruto, who was still sporting his non-orange outfit.

"Well well," the scarecrow-like jōnin, drawled lazily, but did not move "Guess you decided to come at me directly."

"Damn right I did," growled one of the Narutos stepping forward, "We're going to kick your ass sensei!." The speaker began to rush forward, and as if on an unseen or heard signal, the clones moved forward as well.

Then, Ino was treated to what could have possibly been a horribly traumatic scene, as Kakashi's right arm flashed out, and a kunai was promptly lodged into Naruto's neck, and then two seconds later, four more knives flashed out, each hitting their mark with frightening accuracy.

She just barely managed not to scream or freak out, and her relief was immediate when all five Naruto's burst into smoke. It was just a distraction, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You'll have to do better than that," Kakashi taunted as he reached into his flak jacket, and withdrew a hard-cover book with a bright orange cover, seemingly tuning out the genin hopefuls entirely.

What should I do? Ino wondered from her perch, warily watching the possibly insane jōnin for a few more seconds before, an idea came to her, and she took off, jumping between branches, not noticing Kakashi-sensei's amused look as his eyes followed her.

After what seemed to be an eternity of searching, which in reality was only about ten minutes, she finally caught a flash blond in a tree ahead.

Putting on a burst of speed, she rushed forward, and reached out grabbing Naruto's struggling form." Gah!," her fellow blond protested, far too loudly for her tastes given the current situation "What the hell, Ino?" he demanded as he tried to struggle out of her grip.

"Quiet!" she whisper hissed, "This is for your own good, now shut up and help me find Sasuke." He would have protested, but there was a peculiar gleam in her eye that caught his interest, so grudgingly, he came along with her as she scoured the undergrowth.

Sasuke's blue shirt was be hard to find in the undergrowth, but he had white shorts on. It took a bit more time, before they finally spotted patch of white wasn't sunlight creeping around in the shadows of the trees.

Ino raced down and grabbed it, only to be quickly greeted by a livid Uchiha Sasuke's face.

"Ino?" he demanded, looking enraged. "What the hell are you doing?" He had his hands clamped firmly on his shorts which were currently being threatened to be pulled off.

"I'll explain later," she hissed back, casting a nervous look at Kakashi, who was still reading his odd orange book. Signaling back up to Naruto, the three genin made their way to a small glade where hopefully they couldn't be overheard.

"Okay, guys, so here's the plan," she began, only to be promptly cut off by Sasuke.

"Look, Ino, I don't know if you got the point, but we're supposed to do this alone." He growled "That's why there are only two bells."

"Oh, be quiet!" she snapped quietly, reaching out smacking him over the head. "You realize that if we went up against him one-on-one, we'd never get a bell?"

Sasuke looked affronted. "Maybe for you, but—" he began sullenly, before being cut off by the fiery girl, "No, not even you, Mr. Smarty-pants, can get it! He's a jōnin, for God's sake! I've sparred with my dad enough to know that there's absolutely no way for genin can win one-on-one against one."

Unfortunately Sasuke didn't look convinced, and even Naruto was looking at her dubiously "If all three of us work together, we'll have to fight over the two bells," he said cautiously.

"You forgot about my special ability," she said smugly, "Remember, I have the Mind Transfer Jutsu, I can possess him and force him to say we all pass."

Comprehension quickly dawned on both boys faces, and she continued eagerly, "So here's the plan…you guys can add parts if you want…"

A few minutes later

"HAA!" Naruto cried as he rushed into the clearing where Kakashi was still standing and idly reading. "I want to fight you one-on-one, Kakashi-sensei!" he drew closer, "For real this time."

Kakashi for his part, simply lazily scrutinized him for a moment or two before answering lackluster, "Okay," ad his eye returned back to his book.

"Why you!—" Naruto yelled in frustration, charging forward and punching Kakashi, who blocked the punch with a lazy flick of his arm. Naruto attempted to kick him, and Kakashi nimbly leapt backwards with cat-like grace.

Naruto continued to persevere, and continued punching and kicking wildly, but all of his strikes were either dodged or blocked, and the jōnin, never one took his eye off the page.

This continued for at least three minutes, before the silver ninja finally spoke up, "Maa, Naruto, this doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere," he observed cooly.

"Oh yeah?" the blond retorted, as his hands linked together in the cross seal, **"Shadow Clone Justu,"** he shouted and two clones appeared on either side of Naruto. "The first lesson you need to learn, is taijutsu," the silver haired nin said ominously. All three Narutos ignored the words and directly charged at the jōnin, but in a flash Kakashi snapped his book shut, stowed it away, and back flipped backwards, and with a surprising display of agility, neatly kicked both clones neatly out of existence.

"Time to end this now." Kakashi said as he vanished in a literal blur of motion. A second or tow later he reappeared directly behind Naruto, in a crouch, his fingers locked into the Tiger hand-seal.

" **Konoha Secret Taijutsu Move…One Thousand Years of Death**!" Kakashi bellowed, his voice echoing across the training grounds. Then there was a flash of chakra, and Naruto's eyes opened wide, and he began screaming s Kakashi propelled him 50 feet forward into a nearby pond by doing something Ino would rather not look at, or think about, ever again.

Sasuke winced as he heard Naruto's screech of pain, for once in his life grateful that he did not have an active **_sharingan_** yet. Glad that he would not have the memory of what Kakashi-sensei had just done, forever burned into his memory.

After Naruto went flying into the pond, Kakashi chuckled to himself at the joke technique and started walking back to his previous spot. All of a sudden there was a tremendous SPLASH as the blond boy burst from the pond, soaking wet, and clutching his behind with a look of pain, along with twenty angry clones.

Kakashi's eye narrowed as clones from the river quickly surrounded him, "Gotcha!" Naruto crowed as he stepped onto land. " One of the clones aimed a punch at Kakashi, and —"Ah!" The clone punched another clone, which was knocked out of existence

" **Substitution Jutsu**!" Naruto gasped quickly grasping what had happened, and he quickly dispelled his clones, while Kakashi dropped down from a nearby tree.

"Well, Naruto, that was a good try," he said to the sodden boy, but his eyes widened again as even more clones who leapt out from behind the trees suddenly raced by, as well as Uchiha Sasuke, and he quickly found himself unable to move.

Looking down, the older ninja realized he'd been bound to the tree with the razor wires Sasuke was fond of using, Naruto's clones on either side of him wearing identical maniacal grins and holding the wires for their teammate.

Sasuke rushed in front of him, fingers racing through a string of hald-seals, before he opened his mouth to expel pure flame, **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu,"** he breathed and Kakashi was ignited in a huge fireball.

Sasuke stepped back, looking satisfied, but was stunned when Kakashi reappeared right behind him, patting him on the back. "Nice, Sasuke," he said, with what could have been pride, "But you still haven't gotten me—"

Then Ino burst out of the bushes, her fingers laced together in the clan technique's unique seal, and yelled, **"Mind Transfer Jutsu!,"** with a flare of her chakra.

To her immense satisfaction, Kakashi actually looked surprised. Even he couldn't avoid this, she knew, not even with a Substitution Jutsu, because she was standing so close, so he closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable she supposed.

Then "Kakashi" faded out of existence with a puff of smoke.  
_

 _"Holy crap_! Ino's spirit swore as she rapidly moved forward out of her body. Sasuke, seeing what had happened, jerked backwards directly into her path, and Ino slid into a body that wasn't her own.

Ino-Sasuke blinked as she/he adjusted to new surroundings. "What the hell…" she muttered, as she flexed long, worn, pale fingers that were definitely not her own. She glanced at her blue shirt, and white shorts, and it clicked, she was in Sasuke's body.

Damn it, she what happened, and why did Sasuke move at all?

 _"Release it_ ," a voice hissed from the back of her mind, presumably Sasuke, and she collected herself immediately. Lacing Sasuke's fingers into her clan seal, he pulsed her chakra, and said, **Release!,"** firmly, thankfully feeling herself lift out of Sasuke's body and back to her own quickly.

She found herself looking up at the sky from where she had collapsed, and Sasuke blinked rapidly as he gained control of his body again.

"Why did you…?" she began to ask, and Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't want you to take time to get back to your own body. Then we'd have no chance of carrying out the plan.

Ino smiled at his answer, she knew Sasuke didn't have time to think of any of that that in the split second that he had leaped—he had done it purely out of instinct. She chose not to mention it though.

"Yo." Kakashi said cheerfully as he suddenly reappeared towering above them. "Time's up." Less than a second later the alarm clock he had set on the stump began blaring loudly, and all three genin groaned.

A few minutes later, they were all seated around the stump, with their heads hung low, well, not really Sasuke, but he was not looking at Kakashi either, so that sort of counted."So," began the silver haired jōnin breaking the silence, his voice one more emotionless, and the genin nearly flinched. "I guess I'll have to say this to make it official."

"Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, you all…"He paused. "PASS!" The three younger shinobi jerked in surprise, and all looked directly at him in shock. It was hard to tell, but Hatake Kakashi was clearly happy. His visible eye was crinkled up in way that definitely suggested he was smiling, and he may have even been laughing silently.

Ino was the first to react, and she squealed, and threw her arms around Kakashi, who looked immensely uncomfortable. "What?" Naruto asked almost flabbergasted. "Really? WOW! That's awesome! He cheered, "ALL-RIGHT!" Even Sasuke breathed out a sigh of relief, with a tiny smile on his face.

"Now," Kakashi said, when he finally disentangled Ino's arm from around his neck, "Why do you think I passed you even when none of you got a bell?"

All three looked hesitant, but Ino took a guess first. "Maybe…you gauged each one of our performances as genin-level?" she tried, but Kakashi shook his head. "You all have solid skills yes, but what was more important than that?"

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke of all people who answered. "Teamwork." We only got close to you because we worked together."

"Yes." Kakashi drawled approvingly. "Teamwork. Now, if it hadn't been for Ino here, no doubt I would've failed you two," he said pointing at the two boys. "Although, if Ino did not have her Mind Transfer Jutsu, she might not have been able to think of this plan, and the two of you might not have agreed to work with her, so, it is very lucky that you two had her on your team."

Ino beamed at the unexpected praise, personally she felt her contribution was kind of lacking, but Sasuke and Naruto both looked rather put out.

"Don't worry," Kakashi assured them reading their faces easily, "It wasn't only because of Ino that you managed to impress me. Your skills are definitely above Academy level, but I want to talk about teamwork now."

"I tried to turn you all against each other, by hinting that you would have to compete against your peers by having only two bells." "This, however, is a ruse to test out whether the three of you could work together as a team, if you could ignore the fact that only two bells are available and be willing to work together," he looked at each of them seriously, "It also determines if you are willing to put aside personal gain in order to help your comrades."

Then the serious attitude vanished as he withdrew his book once more, and upon seeing the title _Make Out Paradise,_ both Naruto and Ino blushed.

Ignoring their discomfort his eye continues scanning the book as he continues the conversation, "So now, let's comment on positive aspects of personal performance. Let's start with you Naruto. That Shadow Clone Jutsu of yours is very impressive," Kakashi told Naruto, who grinned sheepishly. "Your lake ambush was pretty admirable, good sense of tactics."

Then he turned towards to Sasuke. "Your speed impressive for a genin, and I was surprised you actually consented to share your razor wires." He hummed for a moment, "Nice execution of the Fireball Jutsu, for your age it's really impressive."

Finally, he turned to Ino. "I haven't seen much about you except for your Mind Transfer Jutsu, but I have to admit that I was impressed by your plan." "But…" Ino said, looking a little crestfallen. "All of us together could only barely beat your clone."

"Ah, that was really the only flaw in your plan," Kakashi said wisely. "When you dragged the others to another clearing, I made my own Shadow Clone in the clearing, you must never lose sight of your opponent. But, you managed to best my clone. That is impressive."

Now, he addressed all three of them, but still reading from his book "Now, I was able to deduce your fighting styles and I have an idea of what kind team. I have to say I'm pretty sure it will work out pretty well."

He snapped his book shut and eye smiled at them, "You guys don't need to eat the bentos I made, I'm not a great cook anyway, so go treat yourselves somewhere else.

Then suddenly, he was surrounded by a menacing aura, "So my cute little genin," he said creepily, "Tomorrow, meet me at 8 AM in this training ground again, for _training,"_ the word made each of them shiver, and then the aura vanished "Bye now," Kakashi smirked, and he Shushined away.

Sasuke immediately turned away to leave, moving quickly. "Sasuke!" Ino shouted, but he didn't say a word, he just halted. "You want to go get luch with me and Naruto?" she asked.

There was a moment of silence. Then—"No." and he continued walking away.

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that," Ino said sadly as he left, but quickly shook off her melancholy, turning to her fellow blond. "Come on Naruto," she said brightly, "Lets get some lunch to celebrate."

A huge smile emerged on Naruto's face, and he took her hand enthusiastically, "Great! I know the best ramen place!," he said enthusiastically. She giggled at his enthusiasm, but firmly declined.

"Let's try some place other than Ichiraku's," she suggested lightly, and before he could protest, she continued, "I know a great barbecue place, and I'll bet Shikamaru and Choji will be there too, assuming they passed."

Naruto perked up at that detail, and cheered, "Let's go then."

It was a while before either noticed he was still holding her hand while they walked.

 _If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment, favorite it if you really loved it, or if you hated it for some reason, send me some constructive criticism. This is the first story I've worked on for a while._


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